Baked cherry oatmeal with almonds and pecans! This easy recipe for baked oatmeal makes for a healthy brunch or breakfast dish with minimal effort. Including fresh and dried fruit substitution ideas, as well as dairy-free, vegan, and no-added-sugar suggestions – plus an easy trick for making your oatmeal batter super smooth like cake. This is the perfect simple breakfast recipe for oatmeal lovers.
This baked cherry oatmeal dish is so easy, to make plus it’s extremely filling. This oatmeal bake can be enjoyed for breakfast, as a snack, or for a brunch with friends and family.
What Type of Oats To Use?
You’ll need rolled oats (also known as old-fashioned oats) for this recipe. Please don’t try making this with instant oatmeal or quick oats, you’ll end up with a pile of mush.
You could also use steel-cut or pin oats for this recipe, but increase the liquid component to compensate. For these tougher oat styles you need a dry-liquid ratio of 1:2 (for each single cup of steel-cut oats, you’ll need 2 cups of milk).
Featuring Cherries
This dish features cherries, though you could also use any berries – any type of your choosing, as far as berries go. Strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries would all work well – I think you could even get away with using cranberries if you really wanted to (although maybe add a little extra sugar in that case).
You can use either fresh or frozen cherries (or berries). Either way, remember to remove the pits if using cherries. If you use frozen fruit, make sure to defrost it and drain the excess liquid before using them in this recipe.
Substituting Other Fruits
You can of course also use a different type of fruit entirely. Diced apples work particularly well. I also made this once with diced mango and it was pretty delicious.
I don’t recommend using extremely liquid-heavy fruits like pineapple or oranges, unless they are dried. Adding candied dried pineapple or ginger is really tasty.
Blend Your Oatmeal Batter For A Smooth, Cake-Like Texture
There’s a texture hack you can use if you want the taste of baked oatmeal but would prefer a texture more akin to a cake or muffin – blend your batter!
It’s pretty simple, but just mix together your main batter ingredients, then throw the batter in the blender for a minute or two before pouring it into your baking dish.
Note: Blend your batter before adding texture ingredients – any ingredients like fresh or dried fruit, nuts, or chocolate chips, whose texture you actually want in the oatmeal bake. Add these AFTER blending.
Dairy-Free Baked Oatmeal
If you want to make completely dairy-free baked oatmeal, simply use a plant-based milk. I’ve tried this recipe with oat milk and soy milk with great results.
No Added Sugar Baked Oatmeal
To remove the sugar from this recipe, simply substitute the sugar with one of the following:
- ¼ cup mashed banana (1 small to medium-sized banana)
- ¼ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup date purée – Soak 3 or 4 pitted medjool dates submerged in hot water (just enough to barely cover them) for 30 minutes, then purée the dates and some of the water. Use the date purée instead of sugar for a richer, more caramelized flavour.
- ¼ cup sugar-free jam – pick your favourite flavour! Cherry, strawberry, raspberry, currant, or blueberry would all work great for this recipe.
If you are still missing some sweetness, try mixing in some dried or candied fruit into the batter. I recommend using about ½ cup of one of the following (at least – these are my favourites to pair with cherries):
- dried blueberries
- dried cherries
- diced dried pineapple chunks
- candied ginger, chopped
- dried currants
Vegan Baked Oatmeal
First off, use a plant-based milk and omit the eggs. Use oil instead of butter.
This recipe already calls for 1 tbsp flax seeds, but I would increase this to 2 tablespoons. You could also totally substitute chia seeds here.
My recommendation is to pre-mix the 2 tablespoons of flax or chia with ½ cup of your plant-based milk and let it sit for 15 minutes before adding it to the batter. This way you can control their affect on the batter a bit better, plus it’s just easier to mix in.
Baked Oatmeal Toppings and Inclusions
This recipe calls for using cherries, nuts, cinnamon and brown sugar as a topping, but you can swap some of the ingredients depending on your personal preferences.
Try adding 2-3 tbsp of your favourite inclusion to this recipe to spice things up, if desired. Here are just a few suggestions for different inclusions and toppings (inclusions are mixed into the batter, toppings go on top!):
Inclusions:
- 2 tbsp Nutella (store bought or homemade – See my recipe for homemade Nutella here!)
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tbsp almond butter
- lemon or orange zest
- chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Toppings:
- apple slices, tossed in cinnamon and lemon juice
- chopped hazelnuts
- chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
- candied lemon or orange peels (added after baking)
- homemade whipped cream (added after baking)
Baked Cherry Oatmeal
This baked oatmeal recipe makes approximately 4 servings.
Preparation: 20 minutes
Baking: 45-55 minutes
Ingredients
Fruit
- 2 cups cherries, pitted and halved
Wet Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil or melted butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar or maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 2 eggs
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups rolled oats (NOT instant /quick oats!)
- 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp pecans or almonds, chopped
Tools
- 2-quart / 1 litre baking dish
- colander
- knife
- cutting board
- measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- large mixing bowl
- spatula or mixing spoon
- oven mitts
Instructions
- Wash the cherries and cut them in half, removing the pits. If using frozen cherries, defrost them and gently press the cherries to remove excess liquid. Again, remove any pits if necessary.
- Preheat the oven to 350˚ F / 180˚C / Gas Mark 4.
- Grease a 2-quart (1 litre) baking dish with 1 tbsp of butter or oil. Add 1 cup of cherries into the bottom of the dish, then set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the oil or butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, milk, and eggs.
- Add the oats, baking powder, ground flax seeds, salt, spices and ½ cup chopped nuts.
- Combine the batter until smooth, then fold in ¾ cup of cherries.
- Pour the batter over the cherries in the baking dish.
- Top with the remaining ¼ cup cherries, 2 tbsp nuts, and a sprinkle of cinnamon or brown sugar.
- Bake the dish at 350˚F for 45-55 minutes, or until cooked through and heavily browned on top.
- Remove from the oven, serve right away and enjoy!
Oatmeal Post-Bake Toppings
Why not add even more toppings to your oatmeal after baking? Here are a few suggestions:
Add yogurt. If you’re looking to add some extra protein to your baked oatmeal, try adding a dollop of Greek yogurt on each portion after baking, just before serving.
Whipped Cream / Ice Cream. Add whipped cream or ice cream in place of yogurt if you’re feeling extra indulgent.
Fresh Fruit. Top your baked oatmeal with more fresh fruit – pick your favourite!
Fruit Compote. To add some complexity and extra sweetness, try topping your baked oatmeal with some homemade fruit compote.
So, did you make this baked cherry oatmeal? Let me know!
Simmering Starfruit 
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